Doug Penno banked Miami of Ohio into the NCAA tournament – not before a wild twist at the end.

With a hand in his face, the RedHawks guard made a controversial 3-pointer off the glass as the horn sounded to give Miami a stunning 53-52 win over Akron in the championship of the Mid-American Conference tournament on Saturday.

Penno’s shot set off a wild – and premature – celebration by Miami’s players, coaches and fans who piled on top of each other at midcourt.

But the game wasn’t over. Officials huddled at the scorer’s table for 10 minutes, trying to decide if more time should be put back on the clock. During the lengthy delay, players on both benches awaited word with a trip to the NCAA tournament hanging in the balance.

Akron coach Keith Dambrot and Miami’s Charlie Coles shook hands, and MAC commissioner Rick Chryst came onto the floor to help sort out the mess as the crowd booed, wondering what was going on.

At one point, Coles walked around the floor asking anyone he could, “Did we win?”

Eventually, 0.6 seconds were put back on the clock, giving Akron one last chance.

But an inbounds pass intended for reserve Nick Goddard went out bounds, and when the referees waved the game was official. Miami celebrated again as Akron’s players walked off in disbelief and tears.

“I wish I could say I called that bank,” Penno said. “But it was a gift from God.”

N.C. State 72, Va. Tech 64: First-year coach Sidney Lowe, his red jacket and North Carolina State are headed to the Atlantic Coast Conference championship game.

Gavin Grant scored 20 points, Courtney Fells added 16 and the Wolfpack beat Virginia Tech on Saturday for their third upset in as many days at the league’s signature event.

No. 8 North Carolina 71, Boston College 56: Brandan Wright scored 20 points and No. 8 North Carolina moved a step closer to its first Atlantic Coast Conference tournament title in nine years with a victory over Boston College on Saturday.

The Tar Heels, seeded No. 1 after sharing the ACC’s best regular-season record with Virginia, will face either No. 3 seed Virginia Tech or 10th-seeded North Carolina State in today’s championship game.

No. 9 Georgetown 65, No. 13 Pittsburgh 42: John Thompson was barking calls at his Georgetown players, a dominant big man was leading the way and, just like the old days, the Hoyas were on top of the Big East.

Roy Hibbert scored 14 of his 18 points in the ninth-ranked Hoyas’ big first half and Georgetown cruised past No. 13 Pittsburgh to win the Big East tournament Saturday night.

No. 3 Wisconsin 53, Illinois 41:Alando Tucker showed why he is the Big Ten’s player of the year, setting the school’s career scoring record and finishing with 21 points to lead No. 3 Wisconsin past Illinois in the semifinals of the conference tournament Saturday.

Kammron Taylor did his part, too, scoring all but two of his 16 points in the second half to help set up a championship matchup with No. 1 Ohio State, which beat Purdue 63-52 behind a superb effort from freshman center Greg Oden.

No. 1 Ohio State 63, Purdue 52: Greg Oden put together a highlight package for NBA scouts and helped No. 1 Ohio State move to the finals of the Big Ten tournament and a step closer to a top seed in the NCAA tournament.

Oden had 17 points, a tournament-record 19 rebounds and four blocks Saturday and the Buckeyes (29-3) pulled away late from scrappy Purdue for the victory.

No. 15 Texas 69, Oklahoma State 64: Kevin Durant already has put together the most impressive freshman season in Big 12 history. With one more victory, it’ll be a championship season, too.

Durant had 26 points and hit the decisive 3-pointer in the final minute to help No. 15 Texas hold off the Cowboys Saturday in a Big 12 semifinal.

Texas will play No. 2 Kansas on today for the tournament title. The Longhorns lost 90-86 at Kansas on March 3 in the teams’ regular-season meeting.

No. 2 Kansas 67, Kansas St. 61: No matter the location, no matter the style, No. 2 Kansas keeps showing it’s the premier basketball program in the state.

Mario Chalmers scored 16 points and the Jayhawks held off a second-half charge from Kansas State to win Saturday and advance to the Big 12 championship game.

Kansas (29-4) won for the 35th time in its last 36 games against Kansas State, and this victory came as the teams met for only the second time outside of Kansas City, Mo., or their home state.

Chris Douglas-Roberts and Antonio Anderson each scored 17 points and the Tigers extended the nation’s longest winning streak to 22 straight, beating Houston on Saturday to wrap up their second straight Conference USA tournament championship.

No. 25 UNLV 78, No. 23 Brigham Young 70: The UNLV Runnin’ Rebels raced into their first NCAA tournament in seven years Saturday night, rallying to beat No. 23 BYU 78-70 in the Mountain West championship.

Michael Umeh scored 18 points and Wink Adams 15 as the Rebels overcame an early double-digit deficit against the top-seeded Cougars, who got 34 points from Keena Young.

Arkansas 81, Mississippi State 72: Gary Ervin, playing against his former team, scored 15 points and Charles Thomas added a double-double to lead Arkansas past Mississippi State on Saturday and into the SEC tournament championship game.

Thomas had 18 points and a career-high 18 rebounds. Sonny Weems also had 18 points for Arkansas.

No. 6 Florida 80, Mississippi 59: Florida is one win away from a three-peat at the Southeastern Conference tournament.

Defending national champion Florida (28-5) jumped out to a quick 13-2 lead and was never seriously challenged by the Rebels (20-12), who might have cost themselves a chance to slip into the NCAA field.

ACC

Big East Big Ten

Big 12

Conf. USA

Mountain West

SEC

WAC

New Mexico St. 72, Utah State 70:

Justin Hawkins scored 20 points and Elijah Ingram had 18 points, including four rainbow 3-pointers, to lead New Mexico State to a win over Utah State in the Western Athletic Conference title game on Saturday night and a berth in the NCAAs.

Join the Conversation

We invite you to use our commenting platform to engage in insightful conversations about issues in our community. Although we do not pre-screen comments, we reserve the right at all times to remove any information or materials that are unlawful, threatening, abusive, libelous, defamatory, obscene, vulgar, pornographic, profane, indecent or otherwise objectionable to us, and to disclose any information necessary to satisfy the law, regulation, or government request. We might permanently block any user who abuses these conditions.

If you see comments that you find offensive, please use the “Flag as Inappropriate” feature by hovering over the right side of the post, and pulling down on the arrow that appears. Or, contact our editors by emailing moderator@scng.com.